Red Velvet Cupcakes
by xander0s
Summary: Fionna drags Marshall Lee over to the Candy Kingdom to help Prince Gumball make cupcakes! To Marshall's dismay, Fionna is called away to "save" a prince from Ice Queen, leaving him and Gumball all alone. Marshall wants to leave, but part of him also wants to see if anything happens...
1. Chapter 1

Marshall Lee can't help but already feel excruciatingly bored (and maybe a smidgen nervous) at the prospect of helping Bubba—_of all people_—make cupcakes. He doesn't even eat cupcakes. And that's not to mention how awful a cook he is. He tried once to make cookies for Ashley back when they were still together, and ended up turning her kitchen into a black smoldering mess. Maybe that was why she sold Hambie.

"Why am I doing this again?" Marshall Lee asks, leaving behind his thoughts of his horrible ex. He floats alongside Fionna as she walks, lazily spinning the umbrella in his hands. It was starting to get dark, but he didn't want to chance being burned. "Don't you have anybody else that can help? What about Cake?"

"Cake's busy. Lord Monochromicorn's parents came to visit again, so she's over at his house for dinner," Fionna says, glancing over at him. She hitches her backpack up higher on her back. "Besides, it's not like it'd kill you to help out for once."

Marshall Lee finds the glance suspicious, but decides not to question it. He realizes that they're snaking their way through candy houses and are getting close to the castle now. When did that happen? "I could die from the boredom, for all you know."

"What are you, scared?" Fionna says, sticking her tongue out at him. "Gumball doesn't bite, Marshall. You'll be fine."

Marshall Lee hisses at her and stops at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the castle entrance. Fionna goes up a couple steps before realizing he isn't following. She turns around and puts her hands on her hips. Marshall Lee glares at her, and Fionna stares right back at him, hard. Like hell he's scared. Ha! Why would he ever be scared of making cupcakes with…

Marshall Lee turns abruptly, saying, "I change my mind. I ain't going." Okay, maybe he is, but only a _little. _We all have the things we'd rather avoid, right? He starts to float the opposite direction, but Fionna catches the bottom of his pants leg and pulls him back. Marshall Lee pulls his leg away and Fionna lets go. He turns to her again. "And why not? It's not like you need more than two people to make some stupid cupcakes," he spits, "Or one, for that matter. Why does he need the help at all? Are his smarts not enough for the job?"

Fionna punches Marshall Lee in the arm, and he growls at her. "Come on Mar, you don't mean that. You're just nervous."

Marshall Lee turns away. How could she know what he feels like? If anything, he feels slightly pathetic. He's over a thousand years old, and he can't handle the idea of being close to a gumbutt who's more than nine hundred and eighty-two years his junior. Scratch the slightly part—Marshall Lee just feels _pathetic_.

Fionna grabs onto his sweatshirt sleeve and gently tugs him up the stairs. "It'll be okay," she says and smiles. "I promise."

Marshall Lee doesn't fight her when she pulls him up the steps, into the castle, and eventually to the door of a small kitchen. He's just hoping she's right.

* * *

Author's Note: This fanfiction can also found on tumblr! It's the spiffy "official" version, if you'd like to read it there.  
post/30177412869/red-velvet-cupcakes


	2. Chapter 2

They reach the door of the kitchen and Marshall Lee starts to feel this was all a very bad idea. He shakes his head and is about to voice this opinion to Fionna when she pushes open the door and pulls him inside. The room isn't small, but isn't large, either, which Marshall Lee finds strange. Most of the rooms, if not all, that he's seen in the castle are one or the other. Not in between. He sees a nice-sized oven sitting against the wall to the left, a small counter next to it. In front of him sits a long table that reaches each side of the room and sits under a tall open window. Standing at its center is Prince Gumball, cracking eggs over the side of two large bowls. He seems to be wearing something that Marshall Lee can't distinguish from behind.

Prince Gumball seems to have not noticed them yet. Maybe this is Marshall Lee's chance to escape without incident. He pulls his arm out of Fionna's grasp, pretending he just wants to close his umbrella. As soon as he does so, he's going to ditch it at the door. Slowly he folds down the umbrella. It looks like he's going to—

The prince turns and waves at them. "Oh! There you are," he says. He's wearing an apron. "I was wondering when you would get here." He gestures over to the two large bowls on the table behind him. And not just any sort of apron. "I was getting antsy, so I have all the ingredients in the bowls already." It's a bright white. Prince Gumball smiles and looks from the opened window behind him to Marshall Lee. The prince's lips move, but Marshall Lee has no idea what he says. He's too busy marveling at the apron. It's incredibly frilly.

Marshall Lee feels an elbow in his side.

It looks like something Peppermint Maid would wear.

He feels the elbow again, harder this time.

But it's…_Bubba_-sized. Normally, he would laugh. But it just suits him _so well_—

Fionna waves her hands in front of Marshall Lee's face. He blinks and pulls away from them. "What?"

"Uh…" Marshall Lee looks up from Fionna and over at Gumball and the window. Gumball seems amused, and the vampire cringes inwardly. They haven't even started on the cupcakes and he's already embarrassing himself. He checks the window again, completely forgetting if he had decided if it were dark enough or not yet. "I think it'll be okay," he says, scratching at his arm. He looks down as he scratches as though it's the most interesting thing in the world.

"Ah, good then. Tonight looks like it's going to be a beautiful, so it'll be nice looking out at the stars," Prince Gumball says. Marshall Lee looks up from his arm, admitting to himself that is really isn't the most interesting thing in the world. "Anyway, let's get the ingredients mixed so we can get everything done before it gets to be too late."

Fionna takes a step forward when the door behind them slams open, making both her and Marshall Lee jump. It's Cake.

"Fionna, we have a problem!" she says, "Ice Queen's taken another prince. The crazy witch flew right over our treehouse cackling about it."

Marshall Lee tilts his head in confusion. "I thought you were having dinner at Lord Monochromicorn's place."

Cake stares back at him, mirroring his confusion. "I was what now?"

Before Marshall Lee can ask anything more, Fionna begins pushing Cake out the door the door. "No time!" she shouts. "I'll go kick some IQ buns and be back soon, okay?"

Marshall reaches out to grab Fionna's arm as he says, "Hey, don't just leave me—" He snatches at air, missing Fionna as she closes the door behind her and Cake. He finishes his sentence in a mumble, "...Here with Bubba alone." Putting his face in his hands, he wonders why it had to roll like this. He rubs his face for a moment. Maybe she did it on purpose. He mumbles to himself again, "If she did this on purpose I'm gonna…"

Prince Gumball taps Marshall Lee's shoulder. "Hey—"

Marshall Lee jolts up high into the air in surprise and his back bumps against the ceiling. He looks down at Prince Gumball who still has his arm extended and is watching him. "Yeah?" Marshall Lee says, scowling. He does not like being surprised. Being surprised means your guard's down, and if your guard's down, rather than just being "surprised" you could also be dead. Kind of like the Vampire Queen.

Lowering his hand, the Prince says plainly, "We need to start working on the cupcakes—Fionna or not. I need to make sure they're done and perfect for tomorrow."

Marshall Lee doesn‟t move from the ceiling. It feels reassuring against his back. "Who said I was gonna help?"

Frowning, Prince Gumball seems a little put out. His voice carries it from his expression into Marshall Lee's ears: "Then why are you here?"

"Well…" the vampire starts, but he can't finish. His mind runs a blank when trying to think up a viable excuse, and he feels his face grow hot. Why didn't he prepare one earlier?

Prince Gumball looks away from Marshall Lee and turns back to the table. "Well, if you aren't going to help, you may take your leave now," says the prince, picking up one of the large bowls and a spoon. He begins to stir together the contents. "I have work to do."

Marshall Lee watches him as he stirs, unsure of what he should do. He could easily do what Bubba says—just following his request, right?—and leave, avoiding any further embarrassment, but… Hesitantly Marshall Lee floats down from the ceiling. He stops behind Prince Gumball, looking over the prince's shoulder as he says, "So…" he trails off, again doubting himself.

Gumball looks over his shoulder at Marshall. "Yes?"

Marshall can feel his face grow even hotter. He really should leave. No amount of thought makes this a good idea. He rubs at his arm. "Um, what kind of cupcakes?"

Lifting the spoon out of the mostly-mixed batter, Prince Gumball smiles at Marshall Lee. "Red velvet."

Gumball begins stirring again, and Marshall Lee watches the deep red batter. Gliding to Gumball's side, Marshall Lee glances at him. "Can…" Gumball stops and turns to Marshall, waiting for him to finish. "Can I help?"

Prince Gumball's face brightens, much to Marshall Lee's dismay. He could still leave now before… "Just pick up that bowl and stir until the ingredients are mixed smooth," says the prince as he points at the other bowl. A wooden spoon sits next to it.

Marshall Lee looks again at Gumball, but he's already stirring again. He decides he might as well go along with it, and grabs the bowl. Marshall Lee sits back, setting the bowl in his lap, and picks up the spoon and starts to stir. The ingredients resist him, so he picks up the pace. When they continue to resist, he stirs even harder, and a portion of the half-mixed batter splashes out of the bowl onto his hands and onto his sweatshirt and the shirt underneath it. He swears in a loud, colorful manner.

Prince Gumball starts and eyes Marshall for a moment. Setting down his spoon, the prince takes the bowl and spoon from Marshall Lee, who is too distracted by the batter all over him to protest. He sets them down on the table. He then grabs a nearby dishtowel and dabs at the goop on Marshall's shirt. "For being as old as you are, you're not very good at stirring," he chuckles.

Marshall Lee scowls. What use does _he_ have for stirring? He sucks the red out of things. He doesn't _need_ to cook. He feels the tickle of Gumball's fingers on his stomach, as the prince pulls his shirt taunt and rubs at the stain, and for a moment he is frozen by the sensation. It feels so warm and soft…Marshall Lee snatches the dishtowel from Gumball's grasp and jerks back.

Gumball stares at him in surprise, and Marshall Lee stares back. Neither says a thing. Marshall Lee can feel his face burning for the third time tonight.

He looks away, scowling even harder now. "I can clean myself off," he grumbles, wiping the half-mixed batter from his hand. Staring down at his shirt, he sees that Gumball has gotten just about all of it. None of the rest of the bits and pieces matter, he supposes, since the shirt is pretty much ruined anyway. When Marshall Lee looks up at Prince Gumball again, he is still watching him. This flusters Marshall further. Why is Bubba _staring_ at him like that? "What?" he spits. It comes out much harsher than he intends.

But Prince Gumball seems to ignore it. "Just waiting for you." Reaching out gently, the prince grabs Marshall Lee's hand, says, "Now come here," and pulls the vampire back to the table. He picks up the spoon of the vampire's bowl. Letting go of Marshall's hand, the prince turns away and stirs. "You've got to do it slowly at a steady pace. See?" The prince turns to Marshall again, and sees only a quite dumbfounded look from him. Marshall is too busy feeling the tingling from his hand slowly migrate up his arm. Prince Gumball takes Marshall Lee's hand again. He places Marshall's hand on the spoon as he says, "Just the take spoon and—" The prince begins to stir for the vampire. The warmth from Gumball is seeping into Marshall's hand, and he's finding it hard to concentrate on anything else. "—Stir like this. Got it now?" When Marshall Lee doesn't say anything, Prince Gumball takes his hands away and looks up at him. "Mar?"

Marshall Lee lurches, taking his eyes off his hands. He glances at Prince Gumball, almost in horror, then clenches the spoon. "Oh, ah, yeah, I got it." He stirs roughly around the bowl once, but forces himself to slow it down to the pace Gumball showed him. All he can think about is how his hand feels like it's on fire.

Prince Gumball claps his hands together, completely oblivious to the fact Marshall feels as like his arm is going to fall off in ashes. "Good! Now you finish mixing that bowl, and I'll go get the frosting and cupcake trays."

"Couldn't Peppermint Maid go get it?" Marshall Lee clamps his mouth shut, immediately regretting the question. What is he thinking? He _wants_ Bubba to leave. Then maybe he can either compose himself or just out-and-out_ run._

A wave a relief washes over Marshall when Gumball says, "Ah, no, I gave her the night off." He smiles. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, okay," Marshall says as he turns his head as far as he can to watch Gumball walk out. As soon as he hears the door shut, he hisses loudly. "You totally planned this, Fi!" he sighs, exasperated. "You just—I—glob—ugh!" Letting go of the spoon he throws his hands in the air. "One of these days, you—you—" The vampire can't think of any suitable insults for the situation. "Mortal!" he finally spits. "I‟ll get you back for this. I swear on my mother's sadly empty grave, I will get you back."

Folding his arms across his chest he huffs and glowers at the bowl. The cupcake batter looks almost finished. Marshall Lee scratches at his hand, willing the burning away, and wonders if this should be the time to leave. It was dark enough now that he could fly away as fast as vampirely possible and disappear into the dark, becoming unfindable, if he wanted to. He floats over the table and into the open window.

And he wants to.

He hesitates. Does he want to go? He does. Does he want to stay? He does.

Marshall Lee sighs, realizing maybe he doesn't know what he wants at all. If absolutely no part of him wanted to be here, he wouldn't be. He would already be gone, in the night breeze, feeling the lukewarm air against his skin—but here he is, sitting down in the window frame, resting his chin in his hands, and staring up at the bright stars. Why doesn't he just leave? He could stop embarrassing himself further, and he could avoid having anything happen between them.

A realization comes over him. "...Happen between them..."

That's the whole reason Marshall Lee is still here, sitting in the window, waiting for Bubba to come back. To see if something _happens_.


	3. Chapter 3

Marshall's thoughts are interrupted when he hears the door open. He listens as the door closes, but he doesn't turn to acknowledge it. Neither Marshall nor the person that walked in—Prince Gumball, Marshall guesses—speak. Marshall Lee hears the person's footsteps up to the table and rolls his eyes. It's definitely the prince. Nobody walks as confidently, and at the same time daintily, as Bubba. Not even Fionna, and she has tiny feet.

Marshall Lee turns his head enough so he can watch Prince Gumball out of the corner of his eye. The prince is setting down cupcake trays, paper cupcake cups, and a large bowl of off-white frosting. How Bubba had been able to carry that all in one trip and not drop anything was beyond Marshall. Prince Gumball arranges the trays out, setting the bowl of frosting off to the side. He tears open the bag that holds the paper cupcake cups and starts placing them into trays sporadically. And he seems to be trying very hard to not look away from the table.

Marshall Lee turns to the sky again. He half-expected Gumball to tell him to help, but instead got complete silence. That unnerves him more than anything else that's happened tonight. Maybe he should be the one to speak first, for once. He takes a deep breath. "The stars are really bright tonight," he says.

"Are they?" There is a hesitance in Gumball's voice, but Marshall brushes it off as his imagination.

Marshall nods. "Yeah, they are. It's like I can see the whole galaxy from here."

The vampire hears a break in Gumball's work. "I bet it is. Can't really see if from the table, though."

Marshall Lee turns to see Gumball leaning over the table, trying to look outside. He isn't successful. "Come to the window, then."

Prince Gumball looks at Marshall Lee in indignation. "I'm not crawling all over the table. That's unsanitary. Besides, that window isn't exactly for sitting. I'll just see it later."

"No, you need to see it now. I can just…" Marshall Lee stops himself. Should he really...? "I can just carry you over."

Eyeing Marshall warily, Gumball says, "Promise not to drop me?"

Marshall rolls his eyes. "I promise I won't drop you," he says mockingly as he floats back over the table. He sets his feet down on the ground and tries to decide which way would be best. Bridal-style? Or maybe around the waist? Or Gumball could always hop on his back… To Marshall Lee's chagrin, _bridal-style_ seems to be the best choice. He looks up at Prince Gumball and opens his mouth to say something and closes it again. He picks up Gumball with one swift movement which causes the prince to yelp in surprise.

"You're really heavy, you know that?" Marshall Lee snorts as he lifts off the ground. He rises above the table, making sure he has a firm grip so Gumball _won't_ fall. Though it _would_ be pretty funny if he landed in the cupcake batter.

"And you probably are too," Prince Gumball huffs. He folds his arms across his chest and looks down at the table as they begin to float over it.

Marshall can feel Prince Gumball's heart through his fingertips, beating a little fast. It sets off a short flutter in Marshall‟s dead one. "Not that it matters," he says as he begins to passing through the window, "I can fly, so—" He stops when he feels Gumball tense and his heart start to race faster. Gumball is still staring down. Marshall stops just outside the window. "Uh, are you—?"

Marshall is cut off when Prince Gumball throws his arms around his neck and holds him for dear life. "Ah, don‟t drop me. It's so far…oh gob this was a bad idea take me back into the kitchen!" pleads Gumball, burying his head in Marshall's neck to keep himself from looking down again.

The sudden clinging and, more importantly, Bubba's head in a rather _intimate_ place for Marshall, causes him to lurch back and hiss in surprise. When he bumps into the bottom of the window, Gumball holds him tighter and says something. Marshall Lee doesn't catch that something, because he's paying more attention to the feeling of Prince Gumball saying it than the actual sound. Since he doesn't know what the prince had said, he does not reply. Instead, he situates himself and sits down in the window. "You're gonna squeeze the life outta me if you don't loosen up," he says.

Prince Gumball snorts and says something again, into Marshall's neck.

"I can't understand anything you say." He pauses, feeling Gumball's breath against his skin. It causes a shiver to run up his spine. "You're kind of saying it into my _neck._"

He says nothing, and Marshall feels the prince's face grow hot against his skin. Marshall is pretty sure he isn't imagining it.

Finally Prince Gumball looks up at Marshall and he scowls. "I said 'If there was any life to squeeze out.'" Marshall definitely hadn't been imaging it.

Marshall Lee laughs. "You're terrible at comebacks."

Prince Gumball pulls a face and removes his arms from around Marshall, crossing them again. "I am too! I'm just…I'm not good with heights, really."

"Which is really, really obvious considering you flipped out like a sissy when I went out the window by a foot." Marshall grins when Gumball's cheeks light up further and he stares into his lap.

"Not a sissy," he mumbles.

Marshall Lee's smile grows even larger. "Whatever you say, Bubba." Prince Gumball glances at him, but says nothing. Marshall watches the sky again, feeling the Princes racing heartbeat through his fingertips. A shooting star crosses the sky. "You missed a meteor." He looks at Gumball for a moment before going back to watching for more shooting stars. He‟s still staring at his lap. "Why don't you look at the sky? Isn't that the whole reason I even bothered getting you out on this window?"

"I'm not looking, because then I'll have to remember that I'm being held out a window."

"You ride Lord Monochromicorn all the time, what's so bad about this?"

"I'm used to riding him, is all. Doesn't make me any less terrified to be up really high in the air."

"I know the feeling."

Prince Gumball looks up at Marshall. "You do?"

Marshall eyes the prince before going back to the stars. "Well...yeah. Back when I first became a vampire and I learned I could fly."

"How did you learn?"

"Some ghosts pushed me off the side of a cliff."

Gumball turns his attention to the stars. "Sounds like an awful way to find out."

"It was. I screamed for probably a good five minutes before I realized I had stopped falling."

Prince Gumball stifles a laugh and says, "Worse than me. Who's the sissy again?"

"Still you, Gumball." He throws Gumball a toothy grin. "Unless you want me to drop you so we can find out for sure."

Gumball looks at him and seems to pale slightly. "No…no thank you, Marshall. I'd rather be a sissy than dead."

"Wow man. I am offended by that," Marshall feigns hurt. Gumball opens his mouth to speak, but Marshall talks over him. "Besides, whoever said I'd let you die? Not only are you not _cool_ enough for that, I'd have to keep you alive so you could never live down the shrill scream I'm sure would come out your mouth."

"I do not scream like a girl, Marshall."

"Not this time, you didn't. But I'm pretty sure you do, otherwise."

Gumball huffs. "Anyway…can we go back inside now? We still have cupcakes to make."

"Sure." Marshall lifts off the window which causes Gumball to tense, but this time doesn't go straight for Marshall's neck. Marshall sets Gumball down. Marshall checks his bowl and picks up the spoon, stirring it a couple extra times.

Gumball goes back to putting paper cupcake cups into the last tray. He picks up the unoccupied bowl and stirs it twice and looks at Marshall. "Batter ready?" When Marshall Lee nods, he goes over to the trays with bowl in hand. "Alright then, time to start filling these up." He stands in front of the three furthest trays and starts to pour into the last one. Marshall Lee watches him as he pours into the first one, hoping to maybe learn by seeing. Then maybe he can do this without much mess.

But despite Marshall's best hopes, when he begins to pour from cup to cup drops of batter splatters in between and all over the sides onto the table. The harder he tries to keep the batter from spilling in places he doesn't want, the more it does it to spite him. When he goes to move to another tray, a large blob plops in between the trays. Marshall scrunches his nose in annoyance, thinking Bubba couldn't _possibly_ be doing any better at this. This is just straight up— The vampire's jaw drops when he looks over at Gumball to see his trays looking absolutely perfect. There isn't a stray bit of batter anywhere.

Prince Gumball is just finishing the second tray when he notices Marshall staring at him. He stops. "What?"

"How are your trays so perfect?! There isn't a spot on them!"

Prince Gumball looks down at his trays, over at Marshall Lee's, then looks back up at Marshall. His face is deadly serious. "Well, I _am_ the sissy here, aren't I?"

Marshall stares at the prince, positively confused. "Wh…?"

"That is, unless _you_ would like to be the sissy and magically become better at baking." They stare at each other like this until the side of the prince's mouth twitches and he bursts out laughing. Marshall just floats there, dumbfounded, and not entirely understanding what‟s going on. Setting down the bowl in his hands, he grins. "I told you I'm good at comebacks."

"There…wasn't even anything to comeback _at_," says Marshall. "That was just crazy, even for you."

Gumball sticks his tongue out at Marshall, and when the vampire is surprised he laughs some more. "Whatever you say, Mar. _That_ was funny. Your reaction to it, at least. Your face is priceless right now."

Marshall glares. It isn't his fault Gumball has a screw loose.

"Anyway, _you_ finish filling the trays, and _I_ will go get Flambina so we can bake these," Gumball says, poking Marshall in the forehead. He walks towards the door, saying, "I will be right back."

"Wait," Marshall says, turning around to face Gumball. Gumball stops. "Why don't I feed Flambina?" Marshall grins. "I mean, messing with an elemental is just so un-sissy. Don't want to lose your touch, do you?"

Prince Gumball fakes being offended and says, "I would _never_ lose my touch. That's just plain impossible. _You_, on the other hand, need a lesson in the ways of the sissy." With that, he snaps his fingers and walks to the door. He opens it and hesitates. "Besides, it's kind of…" he starts looking back at Marshall again.

"Kind of…?"

Gumball shakes his head. "…Nothing," he says, and closes the door behind him.

Marshall Lee sits staring at the door for a moment, completely floored. What was it, exactly, that Gumball was going to say? And since when did he have a sense of humor? Since now, apparently. Or maybe Marshall wasn't around him enough to notice what was already there. He didn't know, but he kind of liked it. Yes, Bubba, you are pretty good at comebacks. Or what you call comebacks, at least.

He wonders if maybe he should hang around the prince more. Maybe he'd learn more things about him. But then again, maybe he'd also end up liking him even more. And Marshall didn't really want that. He was already more attached to Fionna than he wanted to be, and he didn't need someone like Bubba—nothing more than a passing fancy, he tells himself—ending up meaning something to him. It would all just get too messy.


	4. Chapter 4

Pulling away from his thoughts, he remembers he still has cupcake trays to fill, and that Gumball is probably heading back right now. He could come back any moment. Marshall Lee turns and picks up Gumball's bowl, filling a tray with just as much of a mess as before, then sets the empty bowl back down. He picks up his bowl and pours. When he finishes the tray, he notices it isn't as messy as the other ones he's done. He starts to move to the last tray. Hey, maybe he's actually not so bad at thi— A large glob falls on the side of the last tray, then plops down onto the table. Marshall glares at it and it laughs at himself.

Marshall hears the door open and turns. It's Gumball, holding Flambina in a gloved hand and a bag of coal in the other. The vampire goes back to filling the last tray and watches Gumball in the corner of his eye as the prince walks over to the oven. Gumball pulls open a lower compartment of the oven with his foot, setting down the bag of coal and taking out a piece at the same time. He feeds it to Flambina who takes it eagerly. When she takes a bite, her flames crackle and grow. Gumball sets her down in the compartment and pours the rest of the coal in it with her. When he pushes it closed with his foot, he says, "About done with the trays?"

Marshall Lee nods as Gumball walks up, setting down his bowl. "How many can we fit in at once?" he asks, wiping some batter off his hand and onto the table.

Prince Gumball watches him as he does it, but he ignores it. "Oh, two, I think."  
As Marshall goes to pick up the two of the trays, Gumball goes back to the oven. When Marshall floats over to him, the prince opens the oven door for him, and he sets them in. Gumball closes it behind the trays.

Marshall crosses his legs and watches the prince "And how long does it take?"

Gumball stares intently at the oven. "With Flambina? Two or five minutes, usually."

"Oh, okay." Marshall turns his attention to the oven as well, feeling as though Gumball doesn't want to continue the conversation.

There is what feels like a long silence between them.

"I‟m sorry if I upset you."

Marshall gazes at Prince Gumball. He's still watching the oven. "What?"

"You just…" He shrugs. "You seemed upset about my joke. I'm really sorry. I just haven't seen you in ages and I thought…"

Marshall nudges Gumball in the shoulder which causes him to look. The vampire smiles at him. "I'm not upset, so apology not accepted, dude. If anything, I was shocked to see you have a sense of humor."

Gumball chews the side of his mouth, looking put out. "I've always had a sense of humor. You're just not around to see it."

"Well then, maybe I should hang around more," Marshall lets slip. He didn't mean to say it aloud. A second of regret is wiped away when Gumball's face lights up.

"Maybe you should," Gumball says, flashing a smile, but it disappears almost instantly. "Oh, right, the cupcakes!" He hastens over to a drawer and pulls out two oven mitts equally as frilly as his apron. As he runs back over to the oven, he puts them on then pulls down the oven door. Studying the cupcakes for a second he then reaches in and grabs both. "Could you please put two more in for me?" he says as he walks the baked cupcakes over to the table and sets them down next to the frosting.

Marshall follows Gumball to the table, picks up a couple trays, puts them into the oven, and closes the door. When he goes back to Gumball, the prince is taking off the oven mitts and setting them on the table. "So…now what?"

Gumball turns to Marshall. "Well first, we wait for these to cool a bit. Second, I marvel at the amount of time it's taken us to actually start baking these." He smiles at the vampire. "Normally I'd be done by now, but seeing how much a distraction you've ended up being, and how bad you are at this…"

Marshall shrugs and gives Gumball a deadpan stare. "Well, if you don't want me here," he says coolly as he starts to float backwards away from the prince, "I guess I‟ll go."

Gumball grabs Marshall's shoe, which stops him. "Please, don‟t—"

Gumball stops his sentence short when Marshall suddenly leans toward him, and speaks into his ear. "Who said I was actually gonna leave?"

The prince jerks back and his face is starting to turn a darker shade of pink. "W-what in _Ooo_, Marshall!" he sputters, now obviously flustered. This satisfies Marshall Lee.

"Just rewarding your crazy with my crazy, Bubba," he says with a toothy grin. This causes Gumball to scowl at Marshall. Before he can say anything though, the vampire grins wider. "Cupcakes."

Slowly it dawns on Gumball what Marshall means, and when it does, quickly grabs the oven mitts and goes to the oven. As he pulls the oven open he puts on the oven mitts and looks at the cupcakes. Pulling them out, he pushes the oven closed with his foot and sets down the cupcakes at the table. All the while, Marshall can't stop snickering at how easy it is to make Gumball uncomfortable.

Before Gumball can grab the last two trays Marshall snags them and goes to the oven. He opens it with is foot and is blasted by its heat. When he heads back over, the prince is already pulling cupcakes out of the first trays, and is a little more silent than Marshall liked, but he doesn't say anything about it. Instead, he goes ahead and starts helping pull out the cooled cupcakes. They look delicious enough to suck the red out of already.

When they have all twenty-four cupcakes out, Prince Gumball turns to Marshall and seems to study him. "You know, I can never seem to figure you out, Marshall."

Marshall Lee isn't sure he likes this subject matter, so he says nothing.

Gumball studies him for another moment, before turning away and walking towards the counter next to the oven. "But maybe that's why I like you." The prince says nothing more, as he roots through a drawer, as though waiting for Marshall's reaction.

And Marshall Lee reacts, indeed, as his dead heart lurches. He tries to tell himself that he just heard wrong, but he knows that isn‟t the case. The vampire isn't sure what to think. What did Bubba mean, exactly, by "like"? "I can't…figure you out either, Gumball," Marshall says carefully, making sure he doesn't let something slip, "and maybe…that's why I like _you_."

"Ah! There it is!" Gumball exclaims, pulling something out of the drawer. He either didn't hear Marshall, or is changing the subject. By the bright look on Gumball's face, Marshall suspects he's changing the subject, as though he got the reaction he wanted.

Marshall mentally kicks himself.

Gumball practically _skips_ back over to the table with a small vial of red food coloring. He pours the majority of it into the frosting bowl then stirs it until the frosting turns a bright pink.

"Why‟ you do that to the frosting?" Marshall Lees asks, as Prince Gumball sets down the spoon he was using.

Dipping his finger into the frosting, he turns to Marshall and holds it towards him. "So you can taste-test it for me," he says with a smile.

Marshall stares down at the frosting then looks up at Gumball. "Oh, well…"

"Come on, I need a second opinion that's actually honest. All the candy people say _anything_ I make is good."

Marshall debates with himself for a moment. In the end, he decides it isn't that big of a deal. "Okay, fine." He leans forward cautiously and sinks a fang into the frosting. When he sucks out the pink, the most delicious taste overcomes him, and at the same time Prince Gumball jerks his hand away with a gasp.

Marshall Lee is horribly confused until he sees that the frosting the prince is wiping off onto his apron is still pink. He hopes to himself that was just the frosting he didn't suck the color from, but he finds it to be untrue. Gumball, his face partially flushed, inspects his finger. The first couple centimeters of it are a dull grey.

Marshall Lee curses at himself silently, realizing the deliciousness he had tasted had been Gumball.


	5. Chapter 5

Prince Gumball is staring intently at his finger in awe, saying nothing.

"Ah—Gumball—I'm…" Marshall Lee starts but trails off and scratches at his neck. He can still taste the remnants of Gumball's pink and it's starting to distract him. Licking his fang he pushes away his desire of more and shakes his head. "I'm really sorry, Gumball. I didn't mean to do that." Gumball doesn't respond, and this makes Marshall fidget. "I hope it didn't hurt too much."

The prince's eyes snap up from his finger and look at Marshall in a half-hidden surprise. He opens his mouth and words escape: "It was supposed to hurt?" Gumball immediately snaps his mouth shut, a look of complete regret and horror crossing his face, as though he hadn't meant to say such a thing out loud. His face grows a dark pink.

Marshall stares at him in confusion and disbelief. If he remembers correctly, it hurts pretty bad to have blood sucked from you, so wouldn't that be the same for color sucked from you as well? "You mean it didn't…?"

"Ah…" Gumball avoids looking at Marshall now, trying to find a reason not to talk or to change the subject. His eyes set on the oven. "The…the cupcakes! I can't let them burn!" He snatches up the oven mitts obviously relieved to have something to do rather than just standing there, acting incredibly awkward, for reasons Marshall can't really fathom. He brings the cupcakes back faster than he wants, it seems, as he gets a slightly more flustered look on his face while he sets down the trays.

"So…is your finger okay?" Marshall asks carefully. He's unsure what's going on with Gumball, but he's not liking it.

The prince doesn't respond as he stares down at the cupcakes for a moment. His eyes flash and he turns on his heel to leave. Marshall grabs the back of his collar, stopping him. He still says nothing.

"I'm serious, dude…and you‟re starting to freak me out, too." Marshall Lee can feel the heat coming off of Gumball's neck.

Gumball reaches back slowly and grabs Marshall's hand. Marshall can feel the prince's hand tremble slightly, and the rush of his racing heartbeat. Pulling Marshall's hand away from his collar, Prince Gumball turns to Marshall with a face mixed with embarrassment and shame. "I'm…I'm so sorry! It's—it's fine, I was just going to go get it checked. By Doctor Ice Cream…" The prince realizes he's still holding Marshall's hand and lets go. He rubs the back of his neck. "I just want to make sure it'll be fine and it won‟t get infected or anything…" The prince gives a short, rather pathetic laugh, trying to lighten up the awkwardness. It doesn't work.

"Oh…" Marshall scratches his head. "Okay."

"I'll…I'll be back. In a minute." And with that Gumball leaves, obviously trying to restrain an instinct to run.

As the door shuts behind the prince, Marshall Lee can't help but feel a knot in his stomach grow. He still doesn't understand much as to why Bubba took such an about-face. The accidental bite is half the reason, that Marshall knows, but for the other half… He has no clue. All he knows is that apparently the bite didn't hurt, and somehow, that upset Gumball greatly.

Enough for him to make up an excuse to leave and walk out.

This makes Marshall wonder if he massively screwed this up somehow. Maybe should just leave like he originally planned to from the start. Which he _should_ have done. But at the same time, he it doesn't sit right with him to leave without finishing what he came here for. (And because Gumball said he would be back, right? So just waiting would mean seeing him again… Marshall smacks the thought in the face and tells it to go sit in the corner and think about its short, unfulfilled life.)

He shakes his head, knowing he won't be able to figure the candy man out, and turns to the table, looking for something (a knife, perhaps) to spread the frosting onto the cupcakes. There is nothing but spoons. Marshall floats over to the drawer that Gumball had taken the red food coloring and oven mitts from and goes through it. Eventually, he finds a butter knife underneath a ratty purple apron. Before going back to the table with the knife, he grabs the apron and puts it on. As he ties the back of it together he can't help but justify it to himself that he really doesn't want to mess up his shirt or sweatshirt up any more than they already are. That, and it's not like it's girly and frilly like the one Bubba's been wearing. If anything, it's pretty manly. …Right?

When he gets back to the table he wonders where he should start. First… He pulls the frosting bowl to him. Second... He grabs a couple cupcakes and places them in front of him. Third… Icing them? The vampire shrugs and picks one up and starts. When he's finished with it, it looks horrible. He already has frosting all over his hands. But he doesn't care, he just wants to get them done, and maybe get the chance to sneak away before Gumball gets back. He picks up another one. Not that Marshall doesn't want to hang out with him. And another. Gumball is just…making things a little awkward and complicated right now. He finishes his eighth one. He doesn't think he could handle it if Gumball came back acting the way he did when he left. His eleventh finished cupcake plops top first onto the table on accident. When Gumball questioned that his bite was supposed to hurt… The seventeenth cupcake slips out of his hand and he catches is top first. He sets it down, frosting now all over his hand. That means it didn't hurt him, so… He scratches his lip and picks up the twenty-fifth cupcake. Why did he jerk back like he did?

Marshall sets down his thirtieth finished cupcake. He looks at all of them—terribly done, he notes—astonished the he'd done so many without really realizing it. Only about fourteen to go. As he reaches for another cupcake, he hums, "I just wanna drink the red from your pretty pink face…" Hearing the click of the door closing Marshall hesitates for a split second, but continues frosting as though he didn't hear a thing. The person (Gumball, Marshall is sure) doesn't move away from the door—only sits there, watching him, saying nothing.

And the vampire is completely fine with that. This time around, the silence isn't as awkward as conversation would be. As the silence continues, so does his humming, though he opts not to do anymore words, in case Gumball can hear him. It isn't until Marshall Lee sets down the last cupcake that Prince Gumball speaks.

"What were you humming, there?" he says awkwardly, as though he doesn't know if he should be or not.

"Just a tune I've been working on," says Marshall, wiping his frosting-covered hands on the apron. It doesn't really work, for most of the frosting there has dried. "What'd the doc say about your finger?"

"Oh." Gumball says nothing for a minute. "Yeah, she said it will be fine and should heal fully in a day or two."

Marshall turns around, shrugging as he does so. "That's good, I guess." He notices Gumball putting a hand over his mouth. "What?"

The prince stifles a laugh very badly. "You're covered in frosting. How much frosting got on the actual cupcakes, exactly?" Marshall can see him grinning from underneath his hand.

The vampire scowls at Gumball. "That's only because _you_ weren't here to help me."

Gumball walks up to Marshall, removing his hand from his mouth, and tries to placate him. "I know, I know…but you did a great job without me."

Marshall looks from the cupcakes and back at Gumball, as though he were crazy. "You kidding me? I did a terrible job. Whoever they're for probably won't to be too happy with them."

Gumball throws a disarming smile. "Are you happy with them, Mar?"

"Hell yeah, I am."

"Well, that's all that matters, then."

Marshall Lee eyes the prince. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, your birthday is tomorrow, isn‟t it? They‟re for you."

Scratching his nose, Marshall looks away from Gumball, his facing feeling a little warm. He feels incredibly stupid. He hadn't even thought of it. Red velvet cupcakes? Pink frosting? It's way to obvious now. "Yeah, it is. And…thanks. I'll make sure to enjoy some tomorrow."

Gumball studies Marshall's face and laughs. "Looks like you've been enjoying them already."

Marshall looks at the prince. "I haven't. What makes you say that?"

"You have a whole bunch of frosting all over your face… Somehow."

Marshall grabs the bottom of the apron, pulls it up, and rubs his face on it. He looks up at Gumball. "Did I get it?"

"Most of it." Gumball points towards what Marshall thinks is his nose. "Just forgot right there."

Marshall rubs his face again in the apron. "Did I get it now?"

"No. Here…" Prince Gumball comes closer to Marshall. "Let me get that for you." He leans forward and presses his lips against Marshall's. After a moment of surprise, Marshall kisses the prince back. Gumball pulls away after a couple seconds and smiles. "Got it." Marshall's brain doesn't seem to want to function anymore.

Marshall hears the door open and they both turn to see Fionna walk in, Cake being nowhere in sight. She doesn't look like she‟s fought anybody at all.

Fionna waves at the two guys, saying "Hey! Finally back from kicking some IQ buns. She was pretty difficult to deal with this time. How're the cupcakes going?"

Marshall Lee and Prince Gumball look at each other for a moment. "Good," they say in unison.

As he begins to float towards the door, past Fionna Marshall says, "Well, I'm off then."

"Already?" Fionna says, "I just got back!"

"Yeah, well…" Marshall Lee stretches. "Like I said before, I have vampire things to do."

He's just about to go out the door when Gumball calls out: "I'll be seeing you tomorrow night, right?"

"Of course," he says with a grin.

"Oh, and…" Gumball starts.

"And?"

Gumball rubs the back of his neck, as though uncomfortable. "If you were wondering what I was going to say when I said 'nothing'… I was going to say 'cute.'"

"I was, and thanks," the vampire says, flashing his teeth, "that's good to know. See ya, Bubba." And Marshall glides out the door and around the corner out of sight.


	6. Epilogue

As soon as Marshall Lee is gone, Fionna turns to Gumball. "Went good, huh?"

Gumball gives her a sweet smile. "Yeah, it did. Thanks so much for this, Fionna. Really. It means a lot to me."

She shrugs and smiles at him. "No problem, Gumball. Always like helping friends. Especially helping friends be friends again." She pauses and takes a closer look to the prince's face. Tapping her bottom lip she says, "You have a little frosting…"

His smile grows larger. "I know."


End file.
